The Nightmare from Heaven
by Stylin' Breeze
Summary: Everyone remembered where they were that night, the night of "the nightmare from heaven..." ... When Japan is caught in the middle of a world-engulfing war, Karasuno's volleyball club struggles to maintain normalcy when their town is changed by it.
1. Normalcy

**Hello!~**

 **Here's the fourth potential project I may continue long-term when my hiatus ends. (I'm hoping within a couple of months!) I'm trying to gauge what story people most want to see, since I'm very invested in all four ideas. Obviously this was inspired by RL politics awhile back, and thankfully, the events that inspired it have simmered down, but the story is still in my head.**

 **I don't plan to have any major character death at this time, if that helps. It'd be really hard to poetically justify it.**

* * *

 **Update April 12, 2020:**

 **Happy Easter, for those who celebrate today (I actually celebrate Easter next week lol). A year and a half later lol, this is still on the radar. The hiatus ended, but I ended up getting drawn into a fifth project, a next gen captain spy AU called The Kenma Project. When _that_ is finished, this fic is more likely to get some attention. However, it's been on my mind lately due to the RL upending almost all of us are experiencing, so I had to get some stuff out. And so, chapter 2 has been posted.**

* * *

For some time, a neighboring rivalry between two halves of an Asian country created consternation for Japan. It was a nearby nuisance but mostly dormant and uneventful. Then rhetoric began to fly, sides began to be taken. Great world superpowers began to draw battle lines. Then the war broke out, and Japan was trapped in the middle. The Diet debated whether to get involved, until that decision was made for it.

China invaded Okinawa, Russia invaded Hokkaido and Tohoku. It was a well-executed attack. Japan's proud pacifist military, the Self-Defense Force, found itself not outmatched but inconsolably overwhelmed. Hokkaido fell, and the Russian advance down Honshu was of blitzkrieg proportions. In weeks, Sendai City in Miyagi Prefecture fell. With that conquest came the occupation of a small mountainous locale to the northwest: Torono Town.

After the Russian Army raised the flag in Torono, the rearguard found themselves attending to a mass of civilians. Hastily built refugee facilities had popped up and feverish evacuation efforts had begun rapidly for all Japanese civilians fleeing the invaders. The influx of camps near Tokyo and in Kansai couldn't accommodate the unstoppable flow. The flow began to abate. It began to lag. And soon, some people found themselves outrun by the army they were trying to flee. By the time evacuations were ordered for Miyagi, a hierarchy was instituted to control traffic. First priority went to the sick, the elderly, and the very young. The prefecture fell before the next round of evacuations took place.

There was not much fighting in Torono Town, the Self-Defense Force redeploying southward to form a line before Tokyo. The day Russian tanks rolled and troops methodically marched in was met with civilians hiding in their homes. The Russian authorities didn't expect to be taking care of so many noncombatants.

There was no school, no public activity for five days. People stayed in their homes; businesses—most looted beyond recovery as it was—remained closed. Five days after the raising of the Russian flag, the rearguard delivered an address over the PA system in Japanese, though clearly delivered with the accent of a Russian: Starting Monday, in two days, all citizens were instructed to resume their lives as normal.

That included schools.

* * *

 **Day 8 of occupation, Monday**

Coach Keishin Ukai took a glance as the gymnasium door sullenly slid open to reveal a nerve-racked Ennoshita entering the space.

"Sorry I'm late," he meekly apologized. He was still in his school uniform and blushed when he realized his teammates had changed into gym shirt and shorts. "I-I didn't know we'd actually be practicing," he mumbled to the side.

Standing at the head of the group was Ukai in his usual coaching outfit, to his left faculty sponsor Takeda, to his right manager Kiyoko with a notepad. There were nine boys sitting on the floor. Only nine, Ennoshita mentally noted as he sat down with them.

"That's ten," Ukai announced. "I'm a bit surprised you all showed up, but then again maybe not considering who you all are." Despite the order to "return to normal," classes that day were only two-thirds full at best. The turnout for afterschool volleyball practice was therefore remarkable, but Keishin had been gifted with a committed batch of athletes.

Ennoshita raised a hand to say something.

"Kinoshita said his mom wouldn't let him come to school," he explained.

"Where's Narita?" asked Nishinoya.

"His mom decided to make a break for it on his own," Ennoshita warily said. To control congestion, anyone not ordered to evacuate was ordered to stay put. Many people defied the orders, and many special interests found a way to get people out. "I haven't heard from him in a week," Chikara nervously appended.

It didn't mean the worst. Cell towers and phone lines had been damaged all over the country, though Torono Town's antenna had been spared.

"Where's Yachi?" Hinata asked.

"Her mom's company relocated her. She took Hitoka with her," Kiyoko said. "She last said they were going to San Francisco."

Takeda eyed the manager nervously. Inwardly he was worried for how many of his students—both in class and volleyball—had been left behind.

"Well, our orders are to continue with business as usual," Ukai shrugged. "Obviously that means volleyball—yes, Hinata," he interrupted when the boy raised a hand.

"Are we still going to nationals?"

Kageyama simpered with a desire to slug his teammate while Kei grimaced with abject disgust. Ukai thought quickly to salvage the situation:

"The SDF will be here soon enough," he optimistically declared, smacking a fist into his palm.

"Same with Daichi's dad!" Noya declared, making the captain blush. His father was one of hundreds of thousands of volunteers who signed up the moment hostilities commenced. He had been redeployed to Tokyo out of necessity.

Sugawara, however, appeared down because of the comment.

"Also, I will reiterate the Diet's orders: don't use your cell phones for calling or texting. The Russians can intercept your messages," Ukai firmly declared. "But I know none of you are going to listen to that, so I'll say at least this: don't ever discuss the military, troops, weapons—not ours and especially not theirs. They'll think you're spying."

Hinata gulped. Most of them had used their phones quite contrary to the government's martial orders with abandon. Some had figured out messaging apps like snapchat were safer.

Ukai dismissed the group to begin preparing nets. Kiyoko helped while Takeda hung back by the coach.

"How long you think this'll last?" Ukai asked the other adult.

"Until they're ready to change the curriculum," Takeda spoke softly. "They just want to restore a sense of normalcy in order to make people accept the new circumstances. Then they'll start dipping their hands into the day-to-day affairs."

Ukai nodded in agreement. Right now though, he saw his job as keeping these ten—eleven, counting Kiyoko—remaining kids' lives on track. They were too young for this.

Heck, even he and Takeda were.

* * *

The practice was mild and, by national-team standards, unproductive. Nobody's mind was in it, though everyone played their best, trying their hardest to ignore the world outside the gym walls. In here, many of them felt safe, like a sanctuary immune to the reality outside.

"You're just too stupid," Kageyama muttered intentionally in Hinata's earshot.

"Why, huh?!" an insulted Shouyou shot.

"There's not going to be nationals."

"You don't know that!"

"Listen to you two," grumbled Kei nearby as they swept the floor. "You think this'll last?"

"They wanted us to return to normal; that's why we did practice," Tobio hummed. Kei clicked his lips.

"They're just doing this to lure us into a false sense of security," he grunted. "They're distracting us from hating them."

Yamaguchi began to sulk.

"You don't know that!" Shouyou protested. "They—they might be nice people."

"Idiot!" rebuked Kageyama.

"Yeah, you are!"

Yamaguchi began to chuckle at their bickering even under these circumstances.

Nearby, Ryuu took a pause from sweeping and glanced at Sugawara.

"Didn't your dad join the SDF too?" he asked spontaneously. Koushi flinched as Noya, Ennoshita, Asahi, and Daichi paused.

"Yeah!" Noya echoed, remembering. "Where's he at?"

Suga stopped, Daichi instantly sensing something wrong.

"Suga—"

"He's missing," Koushi murmured and resumed sweeping silently. Noya and Ryuu's excitement instantly withered.

"Sorry, man," Ryuu apologized.

"Don't be. He signed up for this," Koushi recited to make himself feel better. His dad was fighting near Sendai and spoke to his mom every night. When the city fell, he didn't call. Torono Town fell the next day, so the government never reached out to the family to inform them of his fate. Suga wanted to believe he was alive.

It was just a belief. Sugawara couldn't prove it, and sometimes he told himself it was easier to believe he was fatherless, given how much it felt like it.

* * *

The practice ended with everyone agreeing to show up the next day. Everyone walked home in groups as far as possible, for protection. Kiyoko walked alongside the male third-years, who all accompanied her to her place.

"Thanks," she murmured before hustling inside, earning red cheeks from the trio. The three boys then parted ways at Kiyoko's gate, having all gone out of their way for the sake of their manager.

Once separated from his teammates, Asahi paced quickly with head down. He could hear Russian jabbering a few blocks away. He wanted to shut his eyes and pretend it wasn't happening. It would all go away, he told himself. Soon enough. The SDF would return, with the Americans in tow. Somebody would liberate them as long as they toughed it out. That's all it took, he insisted.

Sauntering sluggishly by themselves, Suga and Daichi walked quietly, Sawamura pondering the yellowish sky in the dusk, Koushi gazing at the shrapnel-pitted street.

"You still haven't heard from him?" Daichi finally asked. Suga shook his head silently. "I'm sure he's fine."

"Your dad talks to you, right?" Sugawara meekly asked.

"Not now. He can't. Too dangerous. But we know he got withdrawn, so it's good. Your dad was taken out the same day. Maybe he just didn't have a chance to tell your mom."

The uncertainty made it that much more unbearable. Would they ever receive a body? Would they ever know what happened to him?

Would his mom—and himself—share the same fate?

* * *

After wishing Ennoshita well, Ryuu and Noya embarked together. Yuu insisted on staying with his fellow second-years even though his house was the closest to school.

"What're you gonna do?" Tanaka asked.

"Watch movies." He then groaned, realizing the internet connection might be flaky again. He pulled out his phone to text Daichi but momentarily thought better of it.

"You heard that explosion last night?" Tanaka spoke.

"Yeah," Noya said with intrigue. "Did you?"

"Mhm. And I figured out what it was. Someone blew up the train tracks near town. I heard about it in class."

"Who?!" Noya inquired eagerly. Ryuu melodramatically peered either side looking for onlookers and then leaned in close to whisper:

"I bet there's a resistance."

"Awesome!" Noya loudly declared and then slapped his hands over his mouth. "Awesome," he repeated in a whisper. "I want to join."

That comment startled Ryuu.

"They won't accept you. You're too short!"

"It means I can get small places and hide easier," rebuffed Noya.

"Yeah, I guess that's true," Ryuu began to ponder. "Anyway, here's my place. Wanna stay the night?"

"My mom'll worry. See you later," he declared and sprinted down the street.

It was almost dusk. There was a truck engine roaring—probably some troop carrier. Noya skidded to a halt as two Russian soldiers, blithely chattering away, walked across an intersection. They gave Noya a confused glance for a moment.

One of them aimed his assault rifle at the teen with a cheeky grin.

Noya stonily glared back. The two patrolmen chuckled and then kept on walking without a care in the world.

Once they had gone, Noya fast-walked across the intersection and, once out of sight, continued his sprint.

* * *

 **My goodness, look at all that foreshadowing lol** XD

 **Please leave a review or give me a follow if you especially want to see more. You're welcome to ask questions or whatever.**

 **The other fics that may get my focus when my hiatus ends are: a space/war AU ("The Great Galactic War"), a samurai AU ("The Three Kings"), or a canonverse, heavy-angst Nekoma fic ("Vice"). Check those out too if you're interested and let me know which you like more.**

 **~Breeze**


	2. Sanctuary

**With the whole world experiencing a sudden upending of daily life, this fic has been on my mind. So here's chapter 2, which was actually finished a fair bit ago.**

* * *

 **Day 9 of occupation, Tuesday**

As he turned the key in the lock, Keishin Ukai let out a deflated sigh. "Well, let's get this over with."

After morning practice, Sakanoshita Shop's attendant unlocked the backdoor of the establishment for the first time in over a week. He stepped into the windowless storeroom and clicked the light switch a few times. Nothing happened.

"Of course," he grumbled.

He saw storage boxes cut, ripped, and beaten all over the place. A shelf rested diagonally against a wall. Tiptoeing through the cardboard devastation, Ukai made his way to the front.

Looters had pulverized the place. The glass frontage now glinted in shards everywhere. Spilled food and mutilated cartons littered the ground. Ukai found nothing sellable.

Sakanoshita Shop's grand reopening would not be today.

With an exasperated sigh, he went about the cleanup, starting by sweeping up the glass. He nailed wooden boards over the windows. Any large item—damaged tin cans, crushed soda pop, open cereal boxes—he gathered by hand into trash bags and used gloves to sort the rest.

Around 11 a.m., he had his first customer, stepping through the shattered entryway smoking a cigarette.

"I see you redid the place," the old man coyly announced, "though this 'art deco trash' look in't my taste."

Keishin glared at his grandfather blandly taking stock. "Guess you don't have cigs I could use," Ikkei Ukai added dryly.

"Why didn't you leave when you had the chance?" Keishin grumbled as he mopped up a soup spill.

"What are they gonna do with an old man like me?" Ikkei shrugged.

"Weren't you in the SDF?"

"Thirty years ago. I don't remember a lick of it," he demurred. Keishin wrung out the mop head in a bucket.

"Here to help? I'll get you a dustpan."

"Wish I could, but I got stuff to do," said Ikkei, taking another drag. "Came by to wish you luck."

"With what?"

"Takin' care of those kids. They're in your care now, more than ever." He took another drag. "Their lives are in yer hands till this blows over."

"How's this gonna blow over? Japan's shot."

"Not what I heard. Front's stalled at Fukushima. The Diet finally accepted American assistance. Well, what I hear is the Americans intervened themselves. Japan's too important to them to let our guys screw it up."

Keishin shrugged and resumed mopping. It was 80 kilometers to Fukushima—some 50 miles—compared to the over 350 kilometers/200+ miles to Tokyo. That meant the frontline remained closer to Torono than to the Russians' strategic prize, the capital.

So perhaps things might work out way after all. Keishin banished the hopeful thought from his head. Hope wasn't going to change anything. The day of their liberation depended on factors outside their control. It could be months or even years before Japanese forces reentered Torono Town.

"I'm serious though. Do what's best for those kids," Ikkei said as he took his last drag. He snuffed out the cigarette on the shop's rank floor. Keishin took a long and hard look at his grandfather leaving with a wave, sporting an almost blithe grin.

"See you around, Keishin."

It was the last time his grandfather visited the shop.

* * *

 _Do what's best for those kids._

If that command preoccupied Keishin's mind during afternoon practice, Daichi Sawamura's mind stewed over something else. The damning evidence that Daichi was not with it today came when he of all people took a volleyball to the face.

Asahi and Suga lifted the captain onto a bench. Kiyoko brought an icepack (a luxury she acknowledged might not exist forever) while the team gathered around. Ennoshita acutely noted Daichi's distractedness that caused the incident.

Chikara was entirely out of it too. His serves were weak, his blocks ill-timed, his digs ineffectual. He thought endlessly of the absent Hisashi and Kazuhito: Kinoshita missed school again today, and still not a word from Narita.

It wasn't just Ennoshita and Sawamura struggling. Almost every player existed in a headspace of their own.

"Ukai-kun," Takeda began, "you see it, right?" Practice was supposed to instill the sense of normalcy, but it evidently wasn't working.

"Yeah," Keishin admitted.

 _Do what's best for those kids…._ , his grandfather had said.

 _Well, what_ isn't _best is letting them flounder like bugs in a sink,_ Ukai thought to himself.

"Keep this up, and you'll be as red as a cherry," Sugawara teased the captain cheerily.

"You all right, Sawamura?" asked Coach Ukai.

"Yeah, Coach…sorry," he said, drooping. Everyone except Suga drifted back to practice.

"Sawamura, do you _want_ to be here?" Ukai asked suddenly when they had privacy.

Daichi gawped.

"Yes!" he forcefully declared, shooting to his feet. The intensity actually startled Keishin. Ukai wondered if Sawamura felt uncomfortable doing practice while the rest of their world had fallen apart. But the resolve in the boy's eyes told him that theory was wrong.

In fact, the opposite was true. For Daichi, this club and the people in it were his lifeline. As long as the team existed, Daichi could pretend the world outside didn't exist.

Even so, right now, the gym felt as safe as paper in a tsunami, and he wasn't quite sure why. That's what he was pondering when the Mikasa ball made contact with his cheek.

Keishin had asked if Daichi "wanted" to be here, and that gave Sawamura an idea.

"Suga," Daichi asked in turn, "do you want to be here?"

"Yes," Koushi said, bewildered Daichi would ask.

"Why?" Sawamura followed up.

That one was a curveball. Koushi didn't have a good answer for it. If anything, practicing provided a distraction from his missing dad.

"Because…I don't want to think about what it'd be like without it."

Daichi was beyond grateful that the person he was closest to in the squad had virtually the same answer as himself.

If the team was showing up out of obligation or habit, then practice could not be an escape. In order to be a sanctuary, the team had to want it to be so.

Takeda summoned the team again. All sat cross-legged at Daichi's feet. Suga remained on the bench with the captain until everyone else was settled.

"There's something we've not discussed, and it has to be brought up. Why are we here?" Daichi asked the team firmly.

"Because it's time for practice," Kageyama shrugged.

"That's not the answer!" protested Daichi. "We can't deny it. Things are awful, and they won't get better soon. Spending our time here needs to be our way of telling the world they can't beat us. But if that's going to be successful, we have to _want_ to be here. If each of us wants to be here, then the world can't crush us. Then we'll put our all into this. If you want this to be a sanctuary, a place that is ours, where we can forget what's going on out there, raise your hand."

Suga put up his hand to start.

Hinata's hand went up next, followed by Kageyama's. Then Tanaka's. Yamaguchi glanced at Tsukki before warily raising his own hand. Asahi shakily lifted his arm. Kiyoko, clutching the icepack tightly, raised her hand as well.

Instead of raising his hand at first, Nishinoya's fists tightened.

Everything Daichi said was true. But Noya didn't simply want to forget the reality. He resented the occupiers to his deepest core. If it ever were within his power, Noya wanted to help liberate the whole town.

After reminding himself not to forget that yearning, he did put up his arm, Asahi rather surprised it took so long for the small libero to do so.

Tsukishima held his ground. Daichi was blowing this out of proportion, he told himself. But his experience against Shiratorizawa, the words of Koutarou Bokuto (how was he doing anyway?), the love of the game he'd become acquainted with only so recently—Tsukishima now couldn't bring himself to disown it all so readily.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Kei liked being here. He stoically raised a hand.

One holdout remained. Maybe unlike everyone else, Chikara Ennoshita had been showing up solely out of obligation. He couldn't fathom how his teammates could so easily dismiss reality.

But, he so sorely wanted to believe it was possible.

He raised his hand.

And that made it official. Keishin softly smiled, realizing what his grandfather meant.

"Let me be clear on this then," Daichi continued. "We don't have time for distraction. If we want to help each other, we have to stay focused!"

He vigorously stood and stuck out his hand. Everyone rose and placed their hand over the captain's. Ennoshita gulped, suppressing his misgivings.

"Karasuno!"

"FIGHT!"

They resumed practice.

"How was that?" Takeda slyly asked Ukai. "Looks like they do still need us."

"Yeah," Keishin said with a smile.

 _Do what's best for those kids…._ The best thing Keishin Ukai could do, for right now, was provide them this sanctuary.

* * *

The rest of practice felt freeing.

And then practice ended, and they returned to the world….

Even though petroleum would rapidly be scarce, Ukai and Takeda had both driven to work that day. To build off the positive vibes on which practice had ended, they offered to transport some of the team home, since the authorities instituted a sunset curfew. Each could take three passengers.

Noya was close by and could easily cover the distance on foot, and Tanaka and Ennoshita offered to walk with him. Tsukishima, with a degree of detachment picked up only by Yamaguchi, declined any assistance, and the pair left on foot together as well. Ukai offered to take Hinata to his side of the mountains, and it happened that Kageyama's house was on the way. The three eldest boys argued over who got to ride with Takeda and Kiyoko, until Suga let slip his house was along Ukai's route too. Asahi and Daichi sneered at their unlucky peer who'd have to put up with Kageyama and Hinata in a car together.

Ironically, Takeda's route would take them past the Nishinoya household in short order.

* * *

"Dude, how do you stay so good? Like, aren't you nervous?" Ryuu asked their libero.

"I'm not gonna let some stupid Russians ruin the greatest game in the world!" Noya piped loudly. Ennoshita cringed.

"Guys, please keep it down," he begged.

Despite walking this path countless times, every step Chikara took felt like he was walking in another world. There were no housewives sweeping porches, no mail carriers dropping off letters, no salarymen trudging home from work. The dead silence threatened to pull Ennoshita into a coffin of anxiety. A world away, Ryuu and Noya bantered about which of their peers hadn't shown up to school yet.

Narita's name was mentioned. Kinoshita's too. Chikara's heart sank.

When they reached the last turn for Noya's house, the excitable libero cheerfully skipped ahead and bade them farewell.

Nishinoya rounded the corner, and then his boundless energy faded.

"Hey, dude. What's up?" Ryuu said. He and Chikara jogged to catch up.

A large army supply truck sat outside Nishinoya's ornate residence. A soldier lackadaisically brandishing an assault rifle yawned. Yuu's mom, head bowed subserviently, stood on the porch. Two soldiers exited the house with a large basket of wheat from the estate stockpile.

A man dressed as an officer stepped out of the house, overseeing the soldiers put the basket in the back of the truck, filled with commandeered foodstuffs from around the area. The officer said something to Yuu's mother. She reluctantly told him where more food was stashed.

The officer grabbed her arm roughly, demanding she show them.

Seeing the man clutch his mom like that, Yuu's eyes went red. Before Tanaka or Ennoshita could say anything, their classmate charged into the fray. Ryuu frantically sprinted after him.

The other two soldiers, the officer, and the woman had reentered the home. The lackadaisical soldier wasn't even paying attention. And with the same outrage that earlier in the year got him suspended from school for a month, Noya latched onto the soldier's gun.

"Give back our food!" he screamed, though it was angry gibberish to the foreigner. The surprised recruit hollered and easily threw the scrawny kid off. Noya landed on his butt. The soldier aimed his gun at the boy, fiercely bearing his teeth.

Nishinoya's mom and the officer exited in a panic.

"Yuu!" the woman pleaded. Ryuu skidded to a halt. Chikara shivered, but he couldn't avert his eyes.

In Russian, the soldier accused the teen of trying to attack him. Hearing that, the officer drew his handgun and marched furiously off the porch.

Yuu stood, eyes locked onto the incensed figure approaching. His mother begged over and over in Japanese to spare her boy.

"Noya-san! Get out of there!" Ryuu finally had the nerve to shriek. The accosted soldier's assault rifle flitted between Noya and Ryuu. Ennoshita's knees gave out, and he fell backward.

The vastly taller officer towered between the sun and Yuu. Noya grimaced, much too belatedly accepting his powerlessness.

The officer clasped Noya's collar and threw the lightweight lad on the ground like a beanbag. He pointed his handgun at the teen.

"You obey. We in charge," muttered the officer in broken Japanese.

Noya stared into the darkness of the pistol's barrel.

Down the road, a car screeched to a halt right just shy of ramming into the back of Ennoshita.

Takeda emerged from the driver's seat hastily. Daichi exited the front passenger seat, gawping. In the backseat, Shimizu tightened, Asahi filled with dread.

Ittetsu didn't know what had happened to bring this about, but the sight of one of his students in imminent danger stirred something.

An urge he couldn't explain bubbled. Without hesitation, Takeda marched towards the scene. Noya gawked at the adult. His mom's tears stopped, wondering what the man intended to do.

The officer turned his gun on the teacher. Takeda halted immediately, his face undaunted.

"Who are you?" the officer said in Japanese with a thick Russian accent.

"I am this boy's teacher," answered Takeda slowly, hoping to ensure each word was understood.

The officer waved the pistol at Noya. "This boy attack my man. I punish him."

Kneeling, Daichi startled Ennoshita when he clutched the second-year's clammy hands. Ryuu felt a ray of hope at Takeda's intervention.

"This boy is a child," Takeda defended. "He is under stress. I am responsible for him. Therefore, punish me if you must punish someone."

Takeda could never have foreseen things developing like this moment. As a teacher, he committed himself to the nurturing of the next generation. He refused to let it be exterminated before his eyes while he stood by.

The officer turned his gun back on the adult, not confident enough in his Japanese to verbalize a reply. Truthfully, he never intended to kill the teen to begin with, just run him off. "Kill only if you have to," had been the orders of his superior.

While pondering his next course of action, a Russian Army jeep appeared, from which emerged a prim officer, perplexed at the state of affairs he'd stumbled upon.

"Semyonov!" barked the man who exited the car. The officer named Semyonov, the man who'd threatened both Takeda and Nishinoya, holstered his gun and saluted.

"Colonel!" he replied.

The "colonel" looked nonplussed. He glanced between the large amount of supplies in the truck, at two soldiers on the porch holding another basket of wheat, at the teen on the ground, and at the bespectacled Japanese adult.

"What is going on?" the colonel asked in his native tongue.

"The boy interfered with our gathering supplies, Colonel," the man named Semyonov continued.

The colonel inspected the inside of the truck again. "This is what you have already?"

"Yes, sir," Semyonov answered. "We are halfway through this neighborhood." He was about to describe various promising properties up ahead when the colonel interrupted.

"This is more than enough," the superior officer said with slight perturbation. He yelled to the two soldiers on the porch. "Leave that. We don't need it." The soldiers nodded and left the basket on the porch. "Return to base," the colonel ordered the officer.

Semyonov acknowledged and returned to the truck. The colonel suspiciously tracked his subordinate before facing Takeda.

"Be careful of interfering with our activities, thank you," the colonel said. "It is not my wish to cause you more harm than necessary." The senior officer's words were direct and emotionless, yet sincere. Takeda gratefully bowed, not initially realizing the man had spoken perfect Japanese.

The colonel nodded a farewell, marched back to his personal car, and drove on. The truck shuddered to life and rumbled on its way too.

Yuu's mom ensnared her son with tears, censuring him for scaring her like that. Asahi stumbled out of the car, in disbelief Nishinoya was still alive. Daichi helped Chikara stand; the captain squeezed the second year's hand to stop it from shaking.

Ryuu ran up to Noya and smacked him hard on the back.

"You almost died, you complete idiot!" he rebuked with an equal mix of censure and applause.

Ennoshita bit his lip.

* * *

For the rest of the trip, Ryuu glanced at depressingly silent houses while Chikara's sight was glued to the ground in front of him.

"I can't believe that," Ryuu finally said. "They think cos they're in charge they can do whatever they want."

Chikara couldn't mull the ethics of the robbery right now. The potential of how badly things could have progressed weighed too heavily.

"Tanaka, I…" he mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Let's talk about something else."

They stayed silent for a while longer. Chikara struggled to force the images from his head. His forehead ached from the emotions he was trying to hold in.

"Well, we're here," Ryuu finally announced as they stopped in front of Chikara's house. Ennoshita didn't realize they had traveled so far.

"Goodnight," Chikara said curtly.

"G'night," Tanaka replied and continued on his way.

Once inside, Chikara kept the obligatory greetings short and rushed upstairs. He threw his school bag in the corner and himself onto the bed, burying his face in the pillow.

In the darkness behind his eyelids, he saw everything again clearly. The fear he felt less than an hour ago returned as palpably, his heart raced feverishly.

They had voted to continue doing practice. Why? Because it gave them an excuse to forget the screwed-up world they had been thrust into? Right now, Chikara wanted to grab a volleyball to try to reclaim that stupidly blissful ignorance but couldn't force himself to move.

Instead, the images replayed in his head.

How he almost watched one of his best friends die.

Tears soaked into the pillowcase for he wasn't sure how long.

* * *

 **This was one of four multi-chapter fics up for continuation-originally after long-fic hiatus ended and now extended until after I finish my spy AU, "The Kenma Project." I am still very fond of this story and have a lot of material planned, but it would be quite an endeavor to commit to. Sound off in the comments please.**


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